A friend and her boyfriend went over to Tennessee to the boyfriend's cousin's meat processing shop and got me 5 deer hides and 5 deer heads. The hides went straight into the freezer and the heads came home with me to the campfire for and immediate "brain removal operation." It was dark so I pulled an extension cord out and plugged in a light. I laid some plastic down on the ground next to the light and laid out all of the heads on the plastic. I skinned the tops of the heads between the back of the eyes and the ears. Then one by one I put each head on a rock and smashed the skull with the blunt edge of my maul. Then the segment of broken skull was pried back with the point of my fire poker and I scooped the brains out with a spoon. At the end of the session, all the brains went into the freezer for later use (brain tanning the hides of course).
Let me comment a little about the aforementioned process. It was gruesome, and I would not call it fun. The only part I enjoyed was scooping out the actual brains, because the organ is so amazing and the texture is very unique. While I was trying to bash the skull of the first head, I almost decided I couldn't do it. It was just too violent and gruesome and I was about to draw the line. I thought to myself,
'I'll just go back to Ingles and buy more canned brains and use those.' Then I realized that would defeat the purpose of tanning the natural way. It is messed up to have access to the perfect tanning materials and choose to use them because it is too hands-on and graphic. I decided to follow through and utilize the natural brains I had in front of me. As I scooped out the brains I thought about the whole thing poetically. What was stored in those brains? The keen senses of the deer, the primal knowledge of the plants of the woods, the electrical system that controlled the graceful and swift movements of such beautiful beasts. Maybe somehow in handling the brains and using them, some of the content of the brains would rub off on me. For a brief moment I considered eating a small morsel of raw brains as a kind of sacrament, but I decided against it, because the heads already smelled a little bad and I thought of mad cow disease and other grossness...
It will probably take me quite a while to work my way through all those hides and brains, so if any readers would like to tan a hide, just give me the word...
6 comments:
Holy shit girl. You are my heroine. That is an amazing account.
I appreciate that you almost ate some, and I think on some mysterious cosmic or energetic level, maybe you did the spell or sacrament by just imagining eating a pinch and considering what was embodied in those brains.
I am in awe. You are a serious badass.
All I did this week was make mole.
BT
That is pretty amazing. The almost eating it part reminded me of our placenta burying ritual for Oscar's pear tree. We dug the hole, took the frozen placenta, each licked it (why?) shook hands over the hole, then buried it to raise a tall tree.
I love you, Dana. You're just so cool.
Where did you learn about brain tanning? I'm so impressed! Bamajane
sometimes you have to be a great destroyer to be a great creator.
the only other time i've seen anything like this was walking through wild roots one day. no one was around but their was a pile of 20 or so dear deer skulls with the top bashed in where the brains had been removed.
think kali! thanks kali!
i'm interested in tanning (after i get moved into silver roundbelli which is after i get her levelled-sp wink;))
wild wintry SUNday blessings.
lj
Thanks for the link Dana! I feel you about the violence, I always figure if I can eat meat than I can kill a critter and skin it and such. My Daddy trained me right when it comes to dissection. Just do it! I loved reading your deep thoughts on deer brains. Sounds just like me! I too would have been tempted to eat some, but I don't do raw things of questionable freshness either. It's a good policy. How are the hides turning out?
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